Cultural institutions and sustainable businesses get it together!
Blue Patch connects trade professionals, specifiers and curators with sustainable producers, creative makers and ethical service providers.
Members benefit from our online trade portal
Blue Patch’s retail partnerships are growing. To facilitate connection between member and trade customer we provide a trade portal on every microsite. Trade portals contain information specifically for trade partners. The content is not visible to regular customers and other non-trade members. Trade professionals apply to Blue Patch to become an Approved Trade member.
We want everyone to enjoy beautiful products produced with the planet in mind!
Happy Planet Store, Manchester
Our Happy Planet Store featuring 36 sustainable brands, opened at Manchester Art Gallery in January 2022 and ran for three months. The Happy Planet Store looked great, it was a real pleasure to exhibit in such magnificent surroundings!
“Manchester Art Gallery is very happy to be hosting Blue Patch at the gallery, as part of our drive to support a more sustainable and ethical economy and switch to an ecologically sound way of life. The gallery has always had a role as a kind of ‘regulator valve’ as Manchester has grown from a town to a super city, championing the role of both ethics and aesthetics in the development of a healthy society. Manchester has set a zero carbon target for 2038 and this project underlines our commitment to achieving this goal, and at the same time supports the growth of community owned green energy across the land.” Alistair Hudson, Director
Manchester Museum
In 2022 we hosted our first meet the supplier zoom. The Buyer discovered the stories behind the products and could research the sustainability easily from our members’ Blue Patch microsite. We’re up for doing more – interested?
Events and exhibitions
2016: Blue Patch launches the UK’s first ever Sustainable Department Store in Dulwich, London. There were 70 brands, a pop up cafe, cookery displays, talks on the sustainable high street hosted by local MP Helen Hayes, workshops on sustainable living and craft demonstrations. We had a Tesla Power Wall on display and local school children put together a display of their dream high street. The event was opened by the Mayor of Southwark and we presented the first ever Blue Patch Sustainability Awards too!
2017: We partnered with The Collaborative Store in Marylebone. This high end, design-led store hosted our members, enabling them to reach a sophisticated customer-base. This marked our first collaboration with an independent retailer.
2018: We held a week long Sustainable Department Store Christmas pop-up in Shoreditch, London. There was a gloriously crowded opening party featuring the presentation of the Blue Patch Sustainability Awards. Events included a business hub, breakfast lectures by retrofit architects and co-active business coaching. We also organised workshops throughout the week including Christmas wreath, shoe and cocktail mixing (and drinking) workshops.
2019: We held a three-week Sustainable Department Store pop-up at The Whitworth in Manchester. The ‘Useful museum’ concept instigated by museum director Alistair Hudson enabled us to bring business and art into one space.
2020: The pandemic pressed pause on our Manchester Art Gallery pop-up, so the museum hosted our online Blue Patch Eco-store.
2022: The Happy Planet Store, Manchester Art Gallery; a three month pop-up, as the world emerged from the pandemic.
2023:
- Homes With a Heart with Blue Patch, curated by Roddy Clarke. September 21st-24th, London Design Fair, The Truman Brewery, London.
- A circular materials project in collaboration with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.
- Blue Patch’s Sustainable Arts & Crafts Showcase; May 13th-14th, 10am-5pm. Part of the Dulwich Festival. Dulwich Picture Gallery, London SE21 7AD.
- Nature Wall, May 13th-14th, 20th-21st. Works on paper by Blue Patch members. Part of the Dulwich Festival. Oru Space, 20-22 Lordship Lane, London, SE22.
2024:
- Pull My Thread – Textiles for a Cool Planet, an exhibition of sustainable textiles by Blue Patch members, Brantwood, Cumbria. 27 July – 22 Sept.
- Decorex, stand J30, Olymipa, London. 6-9 October.
- Blue Patch is the latest member of Decorex’s Sustainability Taskforce.
“Ruskin reminds manufacturers that the things they make and how they make them determines the nature of everyone’s world. The attention to thoughtful manufacture by Blue Patch makers makes them champions of social justice and environmental responsibility. That they achieve this by creating products of inspiring beauty is all the more remarkable. We are delighted to have Blue Patch at Brantwood.”
Howard Hull, Director, Brantwood Trust
“We are delighted that offcuts from our costume workshops can be used in such a creative and unique way. Blue Patch and their community provide a great opportunity for us to give new life to our unwanted materials, supporting our ambition to reduce waste .”
Rachael O’Sullivan, Environmental Manager Operations, Royal Opera House
Covent Garden, London
“I visited the Blue Patch Collective’s first ‘High St’ Sustainable Department Store in Shoreditch and discovered a blueprint for a new retail experience. Blue Patch is a shining example of how a collective of UK SMEs are working together to rebuild retail, filling the gaps left by conventional models. Socially engaging with free talks and creative workshops, the store highlighted the exceptional quality of products hot from the UK’s workshops, artisans and heritage manufacturers. I wish them luck on their journey to bring life back to the high streets across the country.”
Bill Grimsey is a former chief executive. Author of The Grimsey Review and ‘Sold Out’, Bill is one of the UK’s leading experts on the High Street.
We’d love to work with you
Please contact Jane Langley on jane@bluepatch.org 02077387267 / 07792726842
